Just an Emotionless Nobody
by Axrat
Summary: When Roxas suddenly 'rocks' up at school when he should be dead, chaos erupts. Renxen's back, Roxas is alone and once again, it's a fight against Renxen's Emotion Hunters for their lives... and emotions. Sequel to 'Following Trails that Don't Exist'
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes: Here it is! The sequel to Following Trails that Don't Exist! Finally figured out a title, too. I said I'd upload it on the first of September, and well, here it is!

**Just an Emotionless Nobody**

So that's how it was. Sora was dead. Killed by Renxen, one of a group that tortured its captives. Neither Kairi nor Riku could figure out how the King did it, but some how, everyone Sora called 'friend' read the letter telling them of Sora's passing at the same time. All at once, all of Sora's friends from the many worlds mourned the loss of their friend and saviour of their worlds.

Sora's friends back home put up a memorial for him, including some of Sora's most prized possessions, and some of their own. Heck, Wakka even put one of his Blitzballs at Sora's memorial, Titus one of his swords and Selphie one of her whips, that's how much it meant to them. What remained of the raft Sora, Riku and Kairi had built was also placed there.

Kairi was at Sora's memorial every day, sometimes staying for hours, other times she'd fall asleep and Riku would come by and carry her home.

School had started up again on the mainland, so both Kairi and Riku were in school again. Riku was a senior, turning eighteen, Kairi in year 11, turning seventeen.

Over two years ago the Keyblade had chosen their deceased friend. Was it really that long ago? It didn't seem like it, but it was.

Riku had moved out of his parents' house to stay with Kairi in an attempt to cure her loneliness. It was more than that, though.

It was when they were planning to burry Sora that his body was stolen from them, just as Kairi was recovering emotionally. It shattered her heart and sent her into depression, which she was only just coming out of, thanks to her friends.

A lot had happened since they had started making the raft, too much for most of us to realise. And nothing seemed to fix any of it.

--

"I hear there's a new kid in our class." Selphie commented to Kairi as they walked through the air-conditioned halls of their school. "Wonder what he's like."

Both were in the school's uniform. The white shirt and the blue skirt for the girls.

"If you're suggesting he'll help me, you're wrong." Kairi was looking at the ground as she walked, her books in hand. "Unless his name is Sora and he's some how come back from the dead, you're wrong."

"You need to move on, Kairi." Selphie told her as they entered their home room class. Kairi noticed that the desk in the far back corner, usually unoccupied, was now occupied. She didn't care who it was, didn't care to look. It wasn't Sora. That was impossible.

Kairi took her seat by the window, Selphie taking her own on the other side of the room. Just as they did the teacher started writing down attendance. After calling out most of the names, the teacher glanced back at the kid in the back corner desk.

"How do you spell your name? c-s? C-k-s? K-s?" He asked.

"X. R-O-X-A-S. Roxas."

Kairi looked back at the kid in the corner, and sure enough, it was Sora's Nobody. Her mouth hung open for a moment in shock, before she closed it and turned away, looking at the desk. It took her several minutes before she finally reacted.

"How are you here?" Kairi spoke, just loud enough for Roxas to hear her speak, but not what she said. Everyone looked over at her.

"How are you here?!" Kairi got to her feet, facing Roxas.

"Kairi!" Roxas got to his feet quickly.

"Kairi! Roxas! Take a seat!" The teacher got to his own feet. His hair was light-coloured, and his piercing eyes green. Around him was the air of authority, even though he didn't appear to be out of his 20s.

"What do you mean, Kairi?" Roxas asked her, both ignoring the teacher.

"I said take a seat!" Repeated the teacher.

"Take a guess!" Kairi snapped at him.

"I don't know! You tell me!" Roxas shrugged. "I don't know what would make you upset at me like this!"

"Sora's dead and you rock up here like it's no big deal!" People gaped, gasped and clasped their hands to their mouths as Kairi spoke. "You were supposed to have died with him! How wouldn't that make me upset?! You must be heartless not to figure that out!" A pause. "Oh, I forgot. You don't have a heart."

"Is Namine dead?" Roxas asked Kairi.

"That's different." Kairi turned and stormed out.

"Kairi…" Roxas slumped into his seat. _Sorry, Sora. _

"Roxas… I don't know what your history with that girl is, but whatever it was it's not something I want in my class!" The teacher shook his head. "Stay behind after home class. I want an explanation." The bell rang. "The rest of you can go." Everyone but Roxas got their books, and left. Selphie was hesitant, but left when instructed by the teacher.

"Roxas." The teacher spoke. "Sora's dead, then?" Roxas didn't respond. How could he? He and Sora had switched places. It was Sora's wish before he was supposed to have died. _Roxas… I can't do anything. Save us both._ Finally, Roxas shook his head."Then what is wrong with Kairi?"

"It's a long story. If I explained it we'd be here awhile." Roxas didn't look up at him. "I will say this; myself and Kairi were good friends."

"Then go and fix this." The teacher motioned for him to leave. Just as Roxas did, he paused and spoke.

"Nobody isn't just a term used in school by the students. If a person with a strong will were to lose their heart, a Nobody would be created." He confused the teacher with that, but wasn't asked for an explanation, since he left too quickly.

--

"Kairi!" Roxas tracked her down between classes, grabbing a hold of her arm. "Kairi…" She didn't even turn to look at him. "I'm sorry."

"No you're not. You can't feel remorse." Kairi said in a monotone. She pulled her arm away and ran off around the corner. Roxas started after her at a quick walk. What he saw shattered Sora's heart.

Kairi was hugging Riku. But that was to be expected; since she was so upset she had nowhere else to turn to. But it wasn't that which shattered Sora.

Riku was kissing her. Not on the lips, on the forehead, but it was the sheer fact that he was kissing her at all. And it was obviously one that a lover would give if their partner was really upset about something.

While Sora and Roxas were gone, Kairi and Riku had hooked up.

It was Roxas' turn to turn around and hightail it, more because of Sora's emotions then his own, since he himself didn't have any emotions. Although, there was something inside of him that had been hurt as well; Kairi was Namine. Sora had lost Kairi, and Roxas had lost Namine.

Roxas slumped down against the wall, looking up at the ceiling in dismay. _Sora? You strong enough to talk? _

… _I… I guess. _

_Sorry about this, Sora. _

_Don't… don't be… we could've predicted it... if we wanted to. _

Roxas was pulled out of his thoughts when someone walked up to him.

"Roxas, right?"

He glanced up at Selphie standing over him.

"Y…yeah…" He looked away. "Kairi's with Riku, now?" Selphie was caught off guard, but she nodded. "That's what I thought."

"Why were you supposed to be dead?" Selphie asked him. Roxas sighed.

"Did Kairi and Riku ever tell you about Heartless and Nobodies?" He asked her.

"Briefly. Just explaining what had been happening. But that's all." Roxas nodded. He expected that much.

"Did Kairi ever tell you about Namine?" He asked her. Selphie shook her head. "Namine is a Nobody, Kairi's Nobody. The only difference is that Kairi is her own being, not a Heartless. Take the X out of my name and rearrange the letters." Selphie grabbed a piece of paper from her book, and a pencil, and started rearranging the letters in Roxas' name, minus the X.

_Roas_

_Saor_

_Oars_

_Aors_

_Soar_

_Sroa_

_Sora_

Selphie paused when she got to Sora, and blinked.

"Sora+X. Organization XIII's number XIII, Roxas. The Key of Destiny. Nobody of Sora." Roxas nodded. "I was living in Sora the same way Namine is living in Kairi, and when he was 'killed' I was supposed to die with him." Roxas didn't tell her anymore after that. Selphie eventually gave up and started to leave. "Don't tell Kairi I told you." Selphie nodded in response.

The bell rang a couple moments after, and Roxas got up and followed Selphie, knowing that she and Kairi were in all the same classes, and Roxas was in all of Kairi's classes through request, although he'd act like it was coincidence.

Walking into the class, Roxas heard a lot of people whispering about what had happened in home class. Kairi was already there, sitting by a window.

"Yeah, the new kid pissed Kairi off in home class today." Someone whispered. Roxas shot them a glare.

"I have a name." He snapped, and they shrank down into their seat. Roxas then sat down in an empty desk as the class started.

A little while into class Kairi asked for permission to get something from her locker.

She didn't come back.

Nor did she show up for the next class.

Or any after that.

During lunch, which was about half-way through the school day, Roxas headed to reception.

"Has anyone seen Kairi?" He asked the receptionist.

"No, sorry. We think she left." Replied the receptionist.

"Could I go looking for her?"

"No."

"Could I make a call?"

"Do you need to?"

A pause.

"Yes, I do." Roxas nodded.

"Fine, then." The receptionist motioned to the phone. Roxas dialled to his house, and waited for the call to go through.

"Hey, I know you're there. It's me, Roxas. Pick up." Roxas spoke into the phone. "Hello? I know you're there. Pick up now. Come on- Finally. Only took you half an eternity."

"_Shut up, Roxas. What's up?" _

"Kairi's left school without telling anyone and they're not letting me go look for her. Could you tell them to let me leave to find her?"

"_Why'd she leave?" _

"Because I'm alive."

"_Whatever. Fine. Pass the phone over to whoever's there." _

Roxas passed the phone to the receptionist, who hung up a couple minutes later after having an arguement about the school policy to whoever was on the other end.

"You're free to go, apparently." Roxas turned and darted out of reception, to his locker to grab his back, and then out of the school, but was stopped by his home room teacher.

"Where are you going, Roxas?"

"Kairi's left and I got my guardian to give me permission to leave early." Roxas replied quickly, darting past the teacher and outside.

He stopped at his house, rushing inside.

"Thanks. I owe you one." Roxas spoke. He didn't get a reply, but he didn't mind. He darted into his room and changed out of his uniform and into his black and white clothes, which were much more comfortable. He left his back behind and darted out of his house, and started searching the area for her.

"She couldn't get far." Roxas muttered. He searched for a couple hours, before noticing that some schoolies were headed home. He darted back to the school to see if she returned there.

He saw Riku out front, sitting on the fence waiting for someone.

--

School had been over for half an hour, and Riku hadn't moved from the fence. He was waiting for Kairi, long story short. Someone had come up to him and asked if Sora was dead, which confused Riku, although he didn't show it. Was it a joke or had someone let it slip? He didn't get an answer, because whoever it was left.

"Kairi's not here." He looked towards the voice in alarm, and confusion turned to shock.

"Roxas?!" Riku got off the fence.

"She left this morning." Roxas didn't answer. "Because I'm alive. I left during lunch to find her, but I haven't managed to. Do you know where she would run to?"

"The memorial." Riku replied, starting to walk away, motioning for Roxas to follow.

Riku led them to the dock, and into his boat. They went out onto the islet, and into the more forested area of the island that he, Sora and Kairi had always hung out on, and where the Princess of Heart's cabin was.

In a clearing was a small memorial with various items. One of Wakka's Blitzballs, one of Titus' swords, one of Selphie's whips, what had survived of the raft and several other little items. Roxas paused when he saw it.

_All this for me?_

Roxas didn't reply.

"She's not here." Riku sighed.

"She was, though." Roxas pointed at a third set of footprints. Riku nodded.

"Let's drop by home." Riku told Roxas. "She'll probably drop by sometime." Roxas nodded.

The two headed to Kairi's cabin, sitting on the beach in front of it, facing each other. Silence lingered for awhile.

"You and Kairi are together now?" Roxas asked suddenly. Riku took a moment to respond.

"Yeah, sorry." Roxas shrugged.

"It's okay." _Want me to say anything, Sora? _

_Ask him if Kairi's happy. _

"Is Kairi happy with it?" Roxas asked. Riku shrugged.

"You can't really tell anymore." Riku replied. "Hey, wait… how did you know in the first place?"

"I saw you kissing her at school." Roxas told him. Silence lingered, until someone started walking towards them on the soft sand. Roxas turned around, and Kairi stopped in her tracks. "Kairi…" Roxas looked down. "I'm sorry." Kairi didn't answer, but rushed into her cabin when the phone rang.

Kairi returned a minute later.

"Roxas, it's for you." She passed him the cordless phone. Roxas took it slowly, his hand brushing against her's. He put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"_You at Kairi's?" _

"Yeah, why?"

"_I need you back home, quickly. Use a Corridor of Darkness, I don't care, just hurry. He's ba-" _The man on the other end was speaking quickly and was cut off suddenly as the line went dead. Roxas had barely understood him, but knew it was urgent, if he had called in the first place.

"O…okay. I'll come right over then." Roxas replied, even though the line was dead. Passing the phone back to Kairi, he said, "I've got to get going." He got to his feet.

"Good to hear from you again." Riku stood. Roxas nodded.

_Tell him that it's glad to hear from him too. _

"Yeah. It's good to talk to you too." Roxas nodded. Riku smiled, knowing that it was more Sora than Roxas.

The Nobody turned and ran off. He'd have to trust that Sora's heart was strong enough, because he had to use a Corridor of Darkness, from the sound of the person on the other end. _Hold on, Sora. _He thought as he got out of sight. He raised his hand and opened one of the dark portals, and entered. _Hold on! _

--

Roxas came out the other side of the Corridor of Darkness in front of his house, and started inside. _You okay? _

_Barely. _

_Good. _

Roxas threw the door open and slammed it shut behind him. "Axel!" He called as he ran through the house. "Axel!" He repeated. He searched his room, Axel's room, the main room, kitchen and dining room, but no sign of VIII. "AXEL!" Roxas glanced around the main room again.

"Roxas…"

Roxas spun around. In the shadows of the corner, where Roxas had over looked, the red-head was on the floor, leaning against the walls.

"Axel!" Roxas crouched down by his friend. "You okay?"

"The traitor." Axel spat. "Renxen's back." Roxas' eyes widened.

"No!" He exclaimed. "He can't be!"

"He's a traitor." Axel nodded. "He came by when I called you earlier, and attacked me trying to find you. He's already killed Rexa." Roxas growled, getting to his feet.

"Where is he now? Kairi and Riku are in danger."

"Long gone by now."

"Curses." Roxas muttered. Sora wanted revenge, and that was not good. At all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Just an Emotionless Nobody**

Roxas glanced up at the night sky. He'd kill Renxen the first chance he got.

Was that him or Sora?

That was the question he'd been asking himself.

Roxas turned back towards his house, seeing Axel standing outside the door, hood up.

"I see you're back on your feet." Roxas commented. Axel nodded in response. Silently, Sora's Nobody headed for the door and started inside. "Come on. Fire and cold don't mix." Axel followed him in; lowering his hood once the door was closed.

"Roxas, you seem upset." Axel commented. Roxas shook his head.

"I'm not, but Sora is." Roxas replied. "Kairi and Riku are together, and it's tearing Sora apart."

"Poor kid." Axel muttered. A below freezing wind suddenly blew through the house, but none of the windows were open. Axel, being a fire element, kept warm, but Roxas wasn't that lucky, his body not able to withstand the sudden temperature change, which remained afterwards. Roxas' mind went blank, and Axel suddenly spun around to catch him as he blacked out and fell. "Roxas!" He exclaimed. No response. "Roxas!" He glanced around. "Renxen… I know you're there!"

"You think it's just the cold that's knocked him out?" Renxen stepped from the shadows of the corner. His clothing had changed from when he supposedly killed Sora, instead of the dark clothing it was now crimson, matching his eyes, with navy blue cargo pants. "No. Not on my name as an Emotion Hunter."

"How then? Roxas has no heart!" Axel snapped.

"There are emotions deep within him, and the sudden lost of the strength of heart has knocked him out. Unlike the Princess of Heart, he will probably wake up." Renxen's eyes started glowing in the same fashion Rexa's did every once in awhile, before he vanished with another wind.

Strangely, the room temperature didn't change. Ice? Axel shuddered. He picked Roxas up and placed him on the couch, placing a hand on XIII's forehead. "He's freezing…" Axel muttered. His hand started heating up in an attempt to bring Roxas' temperature up. Axel yanked his hood up over his head, and picked Roxas up, running outside. It was even colder out there… What was with this? This was a tropical island. _Tropical. _Say it with me. T-r-o-p-i-c-a-l. Got it memorised?

Axel opened a Corridor of Darkness, and darted into it, still carrying Roxas.

Where were Kairi and Riku? It would be safer for Roxas in a group that he knew well.

Axel had been hunted since he let Roxas escape from Renxen, about a month ago. That was a long story.

"Hang in there, Roxas." Axel muttered as they came out of the other side of the Corridor of Darkness, on one of the isles. Behind them was a cabin, and it sounded like someone was awake. Axel darted up to the door and sat Roxas down, before knocking and running off.

--

Riku and Kairi looked up in alarm when someone knocked on the door, and Riku walked over to answer it. When he opened the door, the rush of cold air hit him like a brick wall, which kind of surprised him. After noticing that, he saw Roxas and pulled him inside, before shutting the door, the temperature going back to normal inside. That was weird… It wasn't supposed to be that cold here… Plus, why didn't it stick around? It wasn't like they had a perfect heater

"He's frozen…" Riku commented, placing a hand on Roxas' forehead. "Kairi, get some blankets." Kairi nodded and left the room, coming back with a few blankets and passed them to Riku, who covered Roxas with them.

Roxas stirred a few minutes later, getting the two's attention.

"Sora…" Roxas murmured. "I can't… feel him there… anymore…"

"Roxas." Riku kneeled beside him. "You okay?"

"I am… but Sora… I don't know…" Roxas suddenly shot up. "Axel! Where's Axel?!" Riku and Kairi looked at each other in confusion.

"I think the cold's mucked up his memory." Riku commented to Kairi quietly.

"Unless we know what really happened Namine can't fix it, Riku." Kairi looked at him. "Not properly." Riku looked down.

"I know…" Riku glanced up. "What'll we do? Someone's dropped him on us. We can't exactly abandon him, not when he is Sora." Kairi blinked.

"Sora's dead. Even Roxas said that he can't feel him anymore." Kairi looked down.

"Kairi…" Riku sighed as Kairi walked off and went inside her room.

"Sorry." Roxas looked down.

"Don't apologise." Riku got Roxas to his feet, leaving the blankets to fall to the ground.

"Has Kairi been like this the whole time?" Roxas asked him.

"Yeah." Riku nodded. Roxas glanced outside.

"I should get home." He commented.

"Where's home?"

"On the mainland."

"Stay here for the night." Riku shook his head. "Strangely enough, it's freezing out there." Roxas blinked.

"Freezing? How?" Roxas was confused, long story short. Why was it freezing on the islet? Strangely enough was an understatement. Wait, Axel! Where was Axel? Roxas glanced around. "Axel…" He muttered, and then looked at Riku. "Have you seen Axel?" Riku shook his head.

"Axel faded over a year ago." He commented.

"No, he came back… he let me escape from Renxen…" Roxas could hardly remember the whole thing, but he did remember Axel waking him up with a chakram, then the two running through low-lit, white hallways, eventually fleeing to the islet here… "Kairi saw him… you saw him… he was in the Emotion Hunter's HQ." Riku blinked, and Roxas forgot that not Runielius, Renxen, nor Rexa or anyone else spoke that group's name. "That's what Runielius' group called themselves."

"I wonder why…" Riku muttered. "It's getting late; I'm going to head to bed." He changed subjects. Roxas nodded.

"Alright." He agreed as Riku started to walk off.

"Oh, and Sora." Roxas looked in Riku's direction. "If you can hear me. Don't try anything stupid." Roxas laughed. Riku walked off and into one of the bedrooms.

Roxas started pacing, wondering about what had happened to Axel. A couple minutes later he heard tapping on the window and walked over, spotting a black hooded figure.

"Open the window!" Came the muffled voice of Axel. Roxas walked over and opened it, a rush of cold air coming through. "You okay?"

"I guess… my head's a bit foggy and I can't feel Sora anymore…" Roxas held a hand over where his heart should be, where Sora's heart should reside.

"Warn Riku and Kairi; when you were knocked out, Renxen came by and said that you would wake up, unlike the Princess of Heart. He's going to attack Kairi." Axel knew that would worry Roxas, for two reasons.

A) Even if he couldn't feel Sora, Roxas' somebody was still there

And

B) Kairi was Namine. Need I say more?

Roxas growled. "If he lays a finger on her he is dead." Axel nodded.

"I better get going before I'm found. Once you've stopped Renxen, find me at Sleinr's lab." Axel then turned and ran off. Roxas paused. Sleinr's lab? Didn't Sleinr fade? He couldn't remember a lab… Roxas closed the window, the air going back to its normal temperature. That was weird... Was Renxen an ice element or something?

Roxas headed towards Sora's bedroom in the cabin, noticing that Kairi's door was open. He glanced in. Kairi was asleep, lying on her bed. Riku was in there, wide awake on a couch, looking at the ceiling. Roxas turned away, and headed into Sora's room, lying down on the bed.

_R…Rox…as… _

_Sora?! You're back! _

_I… my… my strength… is gone…_

_Hang on, Sora. Survive the night and you should have your strength back. _

Roxas smiled, once again feeling the presence, while it was weak, of his other.

He wasn't sure when, but Roxas eventually dozed off.

--

"Roxas! Get up." Roxas awoke to Riku shaking his shoulder lightly.

"What time is it?" Roxas moaned, rubbing his forehead.

"Too late to go to school but that's beside the point!" Riku yanked Roxas into a sitting position. "Kairi's missing!"

"What!?" Roxas jumped onto the floor.

"This was left behind." Riku passed a note to Roxas.

_You should keep better track of that girl. Her power will be mine now. _

Roxas growled, clenching his fists, paper in hand. "I'm going to kill you, Renxen." Roxas growled under his breath. He rushed past Riku, who followed shortly after.

They rushed out of the cabin, and much to Roxas' relief, the temperature had returned to normal. That didn't matter now, though. He and Riku ran out onto the beach, and were about to start searching when they were stopped.

"'Ey! What're you two doin' out of school?!" They turned to see Wakka standing there, Blitzball in hand.

"Looking for Kairi." Roxas replied. "Have you seen her?"

"I saw her. This mornin' actually. She was headed towards Sora's memorial." Replied the Blitzball player.

"We owe you one!" Riku turned and started jogging in the direction of Sora's memorial, Roxas close behind.

They looked around the memorial, seeing nothing new, nor seeing Kairi. Roxas cursed under his breath.

"Follow me." Riku motioned for Sora's Nobody to follow him. Roxas did so, and Riku led him between the trees.

"Riku!" Roxas pointed off to the side. Riku stopped and turned to look.

Kairi was lying there, motionless. Both Riku and Roxas darted to her side.

"Kairi!" Roxas called. "Kairi!" He shook her shoulder.

"Kairi, get up." Riku placed a hand on her shoulder.

"She will not wake."

Roxas and Riku turned to look at the owner of the voice.

"RENXEN!" Roxas shot to his feet, summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

Renxen smiled, dully raising his hand, his sword appearing in it and blocking Roxas' attack. Sapphire Blade. Given its name because the flat of the blade was not metal, no, it was a large sapphire.

"Why don't we take your emotions from you?" Renxen grinned, raising his free hand and facing his palm towards Roxas. Renxen's hand started to glow a purple colour, and Roxas could feel his strength slowly slipping away…

_SORA! _

Renxen smiled as Roxas slumped to the ground, all of Sora's strength gone. He could no longer feel Sora's heart inside him.

Riku summoned his Keyblade and rushed at Renxen, only to collapse onto the ground.

"Riku!" Roxas stumbled over to the silver haired teen.

"I do not need you." Renxen spoke as Riku's strength suddenly returned. "Not with all that darkness in your heart." Riku forced himself to his knees, growling at Renxen. The raven-haired eight- Hold on a moment!

"Why haven't you aged at all?" Roxas asked in confusion. "When I first saw you, you looked about seventeen, and that was over a year ago. You haven't aged a bit!" Renxen grinned.

"Twilights are ageless. If you found Yoruko, the second youngest, you'd find that she hasn't aged either. Nor has our youngest, but you never met him." Renxen snorted in amusement. "When have I seen yo- Hold on!" Renxen seemed to recognise Roxas. "Sora! The Keyblader! I though I killed you."

"My name's Roxas. Sora+X."

"Number XIII." Renxen smiled. "VIII and IX told me about you."

"Demyx?" Roxas blinked. "Demyx… That's right! Demyx… the idiot." Roxas smirked. "He and Axel were both in your little group's HQ."

"Kairi saw them, too." Roxas glanced up at a tree to see the ghost-like form of Namine sitting on a branch. "Both of them, but they kept their hoods up so she couldn't realise who they were at the time." Roxas paused, biting his lip.

"I am getting sick of this. Sora," Renxen held his sword towards Roxas, "I think we have unfinished business to attend to." Roxas growled.

"Yeah, we do. You're still alive!" Roxas darted to his feet, calling Oathkeeper and Oblivion back to him, rushing at Renxen.

"I was thinking similar, but about you. I'll deal with it later." Renxen vanished from sight as a breeze blew through. Roxas growled, before turning and heading back to Kairi, where Riku was already at her side.

"Kairi…" Roxas placed a hand on her shoulder.

"If she had strength left we could probably switch," Roxas glanced back at Namine as she spoke, "but she doesn't. Her heart is still in her, but its power, its emotion, everything has been drained from it." Roxas cursed under his breath. Namine gave him a smile, before disappearing.

"I'm going." Roxas got to his feet. Riku blinked at him. "I'm going to hunt Renxen down, and I'm going to figure out how I'm alive. I remember dieing, then waking up with a chakram in my face, but I want to know how I'm alive." Riku nodded.

"I'm coming with. Maybe we can find something to save Kairi." Roxas nodded in response. "How will we get to other worlds?"

Roxas was thinking of an answer, when suddenly a bright light engulfed him, Riku and the motionless Kairi.

--

Roxas moaned. Where was he? He could've sworn he was on the islet… He sat up.

"Radiant Garden?" He asked aloud, looking at Riku, who was sitting up beside him, attending to Kairi.

"She's still out of it." Riku sighed.

"She won't wake until we return her emotions to her." Roxas shook his head, then got to his feet before helping Riku to his. "Let's head to Merlin's." Riku nodded, before picking Kairi up.

They had ended up in the Bailey, and slowly headed in the direction of Merlin's house. Once there, Roxas told Riku to wait outside, he wasn't sure why, though. It was just a feeling he had, that it would be better to explain everything alone.

Roxas headed inside, finding that the Restoration Committee was sitting around the table, including two honorary members, Donald and Goofy. They all looked up in alarm when Roxas closed the door.

"Who're you!?" Yuffie flipped over the table and landed in front of him. "This is private!"

"Yeah! Get out!" Donald rushed over.

"Gawrsh, guys. Shouldn't we hear him out?" Goofy glanced around.

"He isn't a memb-" Leon was cut off when Roxas threw a purple-coloured card at him. Leon glanced at the name on the back then shot to his feet. "Murderer! You're the one who killed Sora!"

"Gee, that makes me so much happier." Roxas commented sarcastically.

"Thunder!" Donald exclaimed, electrocuting Roxas.

"Who are you?! Larxene?!" Roxas hissed, twitching slightly from the electricity running through his system. He then decided to imitate his somebody, turning away, then glancing back and pointing in their direction. "'So how 'bout it: Think we can handle one last rumble together?'" The imitation was spot on, even the tone of voice.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed, jumping up and hugging Roxas.

"Okay okay okay okay!" Roxas laughed, trying to get them off of him. "We all know Roxas and Sora are alive! Now get off of us!" He laughed.

"Us?" Goofy asked.

"You see, technically I'm actually Roxas, his Nobody, but Sora is living inside of me, like I used to be living in him." Roxas paused. _I hope. _

_Nice imitation, bonehead. _

_Sora! You're okay! _

_Why wouldn't I be? _

"So Sora is alive…" Leon smiled. "It seemed a bit far-fetched that he was dead."

"Well… truth be told we _did _die. How we're alive now, you tell me." Roxas shrugged. "Okay, Riku, come in. I'm running out of words for explanations." Riku shook his head in amusement as he entered Merlin's house.

The first thing everyone noticed was not Riku, but Kairi.

"What happened to her?" Aerith asked Roxas and Riku. "Darkness cloaks her heart…"

"She has had her emotions taken by Renxen," Roxas started to explain, "not her heart, but everything in it. Renxen is part of the Emotion Hunters and it's my best guess that he's a Nobody."

"Hm… we need to find a way to save her…" Leon glanced at Cid.

"I got nothin'" Cid shook his head.

"I think I can help." Everyone glanced over at the shadows of a corner of the room in alarm.


	3. Chapter 3

**Just an Emotionless Nobody**

A seventeen year old blonde lacking muscle with piercing sapphire blue eyes stepped from the darkness of the shadows. His clothing consisted of a navy blue shirt and baggy black pants, and he had a black stipe tattoo going from the centre of his forehead, across to his left temple then vanished into his hair.

"Sleinr?" Roxas asked in surprise. "Didn't you fade?" That tattoo was new... That wasn't there before, was it?

"Remember what Axel told you?" Sleinr smirked. "We're Nobodies. Once you think we're gone we come back." Roxas nodded with a grin. "Oh, by the way, we weren't finished with you when Axel sprung you lose." Roxas stepped back.

"What in the name of Kingdom Hearts?!"

Everyone glanced between the two of them in confusion.

"It's a long story. Find me at my lab if you want to hear it." Sleinr glanced at Kairi. "I can restore some of her strength, if you want me to, but I'll have to keep her with me." Roxas glanced back at Riku, who seemed hesitant.

"You've helped us out a lot, Sleinr, but can we still trust you?" Riku asked defensively.

"You did when you were captured."

"Did we have a choice?"

"I trust him." Everyone turned to see the ghostly form of Namine standing behind Riku. "Myself and Kairi are one, and I trust him. Kairi would to." Riku paused, then nodded.

"Namine's right." Roxas nodded.

"Alright, Sleinr. Keep Kairi safe for us, will ya?" Sleinr nodded.

"Of course." Sleinr nodded. "Oh, I'll need her emotions back before she will be able to awaken, but I will restore her strength." Riku nodded. "Find me at my lab." Sleinr, Kairi and Namine vanished as a breeze swept through.

"Great. First Axel, now Sleinr and Kairi… how many people will I have to find?" Roxas muttered. "Where in Kingdom Hearts is Sleinr's lab?" He hoped Riku didn't hear that. "Is the Gummiship with you guys?" Roxas asked Donald and Goofy.

"And so's the King!" Donald answered cheerfully.

"Alright. We'll get going, then?" He glanced back at the Restoration Committee, who nodded in response. "Cool. See ya 'round!"

Roxas, Riku, Donald and Goofy all left, and, following the Kings men, found the Gummiship. They all rushed on board, finding Chip, Dale and the King.

"King Mickey!" Roxas exclaimed, more Sora than himself. Mickey suddenly spun around in surprise.

"Roxas!" The mouse exclaimed. "You're alive, welp!"

"Of course!" Roxas grinned cockily.

"Lose the cockiness, Sora." Riku ruffled Roxas' hair as he walked by. "What's been going on while we've been gone?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Not much. Unfortunately, you caught us at the end of our trip." Mickey confessed. "And we need to get home, welp."

"Alright. Mind if we borrow the Gummiship?" Roxas crossed his arms.

"Can you pilot it?" Dale asked. "We're needed back at the castle." He motioned to himself and Chip.

"No sweat!" Roxas said with a Sora-like attitude.

"Then she's all your's for as long as you need her." The King nodded.

After dropping the King, Donald, Goofy and the Chipmunks off at Disney Castle, Riku took control of the Gummiship, and they took, not sure where they were going.

"You okay, Roxas?" Riku glanced at Sora's Nobody, who was pacing mindlessly in the small space they had. "You're shifting the weight of the ship."

"Yeah, sorry." Roxas nodded. "Hey, Riku, want me to drive for awhile? You've been driving for several hours now." Roxas offered. It was true. According to the clock, it was about 8PM Disney Castle time, and they left there about 12:00.

"I guess…" Riku yawned. "Just don't crash." Roxas let out a laugh as Riku got up from his seat and Roxas took his place.

"Sleep or something. Doing nothing makes people tired." Roxas told the silver haired teen, who shrugged, sitting down behind where Roxas was sitting.

--

"Riku! Get up! We're crashing!"

Riku wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but now Roxas was yelling at him, and the Gummiship was shaking uncontrollably.

"We got hit by Heartless while in an astroid field, and now we're crashing towards a random world." Roxas exclaimed.

"Is that your excuse?!" Riku flipped a few switches, trying to prepare for a crash landing.

"And I'm stickin' to it." Roxas replied.

Both darted out of the Gummiship after it crashed, smoke rising from it. Roxas swore under his breath.

"Where are we?" Roxas glanced around. Wait… "Twilight Town?"

"Twilight Town." Riku confirmed. Great. What a scene this was.

They crashed right in front of the station, and they were looking up at the Station Tower.

_I really don't want to be here. _Roxas thought in distaste.

"We should find Hayner, Pence and Olette." Riku crossed his arms. "They might be able to help us." Roxas shook his head.

"No. I don't want to see them."

"The Gummiship won't be flying until we can repair it…" Riku paused. "What're we going to do in the meantime, then?"

"Roxas! Where's Axel?!"

Riku spun around, smacking Roxas with his arm and causing him to fall…

But someone caught Roxas.

By someone, I mean someone in a black Organization XIII cloak.

"Huh?" Roxas paused, puzzled. Who…? Wait… that voice… the Melodious Nocturne? "Demyx?"

"Yep!" Number Nine shook his head, his hood falling, revealing his face. Gently pushing Roxas to his feet, before Riku took Roxas's arm quickly, pulling him away from the Organization member. "Hey! I don't mean any harm! I'm one of the ones responsible for your escape!"

"Somehow, I doubt that." Riku glared.

"Demyx, you mean you haven't seen Axel anywhere?" Roxas changed subjects as if Riku wasn't there. Number Nine shook his head. "Damn it."

"What?" Riku glanced at Roxas. "What side are you on?"

"I don't know." Roxas shook his head.

"I better get back to the lab." Demyx sighed, turning and starting to leave half-heartedly.

"Wait!" Roxas called to him. "Sleinr's lab? You know where it is?"

"You mean to tell me that you don't know where Kairi is?" Riku glared at Roxas.

"No, I know where Kairi is. Kairi is at the lab. I just don't know where the lab is." Roxas replied in a smart-aleck tone.

"Yeah I know where it is!" Demyx turned energetically. "The Emotion Hunters all have devices to warp themselves there." Roxas growled at the mention of the Emotion Hunters. "Rexa's group, anyway. Renxen's group's a whole 'nother story."

"Like Larxene and her little group with the Organization's downfall?" Roxas asked Demyx in a bored fashion. The Melodious Nocturne nodded. "Fun. Rebel, riot, party on." Demyx couldn't help but snort in amusement.

"So you do remember…" Demyx paused. "If you remember that, you'll find the lab." He paused, then moved his finger through the air, as if writing in the empty space with invisible ink. "7-4-9-13." He spoke as he did so, moving his finger in the motion to write each number.

"What does that mean?" Riku spoke up.

"You'll figure it out." Demyx turned, and opened up a Corridor of Darkness. "I'll see you there." He stepped into it, and Roxas went to bolt in after him, but he was too slow.

"Damn." Roxas cursed. The Corridor of Darkness closed behind Number Nine, leaving Roxas and Riku standing alone.

"What're you losers doing, crashing in my town?"

Both turned to see none other then Seifer standing there, his arms crossed in annoyance. Across his face was a scar, going from above his left temple, across his left eye, rendering it useless, over his nose to cross his right cheek and stoped abruptly.

"Haven't you already caused me enough trouble, Riku?" He asked.

"I should be asking you the same thing."

Roxas ducked behind Riku in hopes of not being seen. He snuck behind the Gummiship and hid from the world. The last thing he wanted was to be recognised as the kid in the black cloak who sat on the Station Tower, or otherwise.

"What do you mean?" Seifer motioned to his scar. "I got this because your precious Kairi ended up getting both of us captured by those freaks. I can't Struggle anymore because of it."

"Oh boo-hoo, the world's ending." Riku rolled his eyes. Seifer growled. "I'm so scared." He commented with an overdose of sarcasm.

"Give him a break, Seifer. Don't you have better things to do than pick on someone who's seen more tragic things than your little injury?"

Riku turned to see Hayner, Pence and Olette standing at the path away from the station. It was Hayner who had spoken.

"He'd probably kill you, if he had a reason to." Pence commented. Seifer growled. He was outnumbered four to one.

"Fine." Seifer growled, turning away and marching away from the station.

"Thanks." Riku turned to Hayner, Pence and Olette.

"Don't worry about it. He's been nothing but annoying since he came back. Of course, his little group still follows him." Olette rolled her eyes at the last sentence, before glancing at the crashed Gummiship. "Is that your ship?"

"Yeah…" Riku nodded.

"It looks a little broken." Pence commented in a smart-aleck tone. Riku rolled his eyes.

"What wa-"

"CRAAAAA-puh."

Everyone turned to the Station Tower in alarm. Riku put his hand over his eyes. People at the station, most who were examining the crashed Gummiship, gasped.

"What idiot's up there?" One person asked.

"Please tell me it's not my idiot." Riku muttered as he slowly lowered his hand, and then moaned. "Roxas!"

The blond was suspended from the ledge on the Station Tower; the only thing holding him was someone in a black cloak gripping onto his right wrist.

"I'm guessing he's naturally blond." Olette glanced over. Riku nodded, wishing he knew who the cloaked figure was.

--

"You're a bit of an idiot, aren't you?" Teased the cloaked figure.

"AXEL! I SWEAR, IF YOU DROP ME…" Roxas glanced down at the ground, kicking his legs, trying to get traction on the side of the station tower like he had on the skyscraper in the World that Never Was, unsuccessfully. He gripped onto Axel's sleeve with his left hand.

"I'll end up dropping you if you don't stop squirming!" Axel snapped back. His hand was already slipping, before he noticed Riku darting towards the tower. _Hurry up. _Roxas tried to stop squirming, but he couldn't help it.

"I can't get traction on the tower!" He called as his feet slipped off the side once again. "Not with these shoes!"

"I said stop squirming!" Axel snapped in frustration, his hand slipping until he wasn't holding onto Roxas's wrist anymore, but rather his hand.

"My hand's slipping!" Roxas yelled frantically.

"Hang on." Axel extended his other hand. "Grab on!"

Roxas let go of Axel's sleeve, but as he did his hand slipped out of Axel's, and he started falling to the station below, as the spectators below gasped in shock and fear for the teenager's life.

"ROXAS!" Axel yelled, and then cursed under his breath. Someone ran past him, but Axel didn't see who it was.

Something shining on the surface of the Station Tower caught Roxas's eye, before he blacked out…

--

"_N…N… N… where's the N's? Ah! Here they are!" Someone in a black Organization XIII cloak exclaimed, searching the shelves of a library. "Nobodies, Hearts and Heartless…" He muttered, pulling a book off the shelves. It was in a black cover, and had red around the edges. He laid it down on an oak table, and opened to a random page, and, interested, he started reading. _

"_Nobodies are supposedly the shells of those who have lost their Hearts to the Heartless. Only those with a strong will become one, and the stronger the will, the stronger the Nobody, unlike Heartless where it goes off of the amount of evil in one's heart. Nobodies are said not to have Hearts at all, making them unable to feel emotions" His voice trailed off. "But, inside them is the shadow of a Heart. A Heart with no light…" Whoever it was shook their head. "Impossible. If we've already lost our Hearts to the Heartless, how can we have on in us? The Heartless are darkness, then how can we still have a dark heart?" He continued reading. "This Heart doesn't hold emotion. It is just like a Heart that has had its contents drained from it, which may be all it is. That presents this question: How do Nobodies function if the contents of their Hearts no longer exist?" _

_He flipped it to the back cover, where someone had hand wrote a phrase down, and a code. _

'_Rebel. Riot. Party on. _

_7 Shadows of Hearts have been humming._

_4 Heartless were prowling. _

_9 Nobodies are on a mission. _

_13 is the Key.' _


	4. Chapter 4

**Just an Emotionless Nobody**

Riku darted past Axel, leaping off the ledge of the Station Tower. He couldn't help but smile for a moment in memory. The only thing different was he was trying to save Roxas, not capture him. He started falling upside down, passing Roxas. He grabbed on to the Nobody's arm, pulling himself upright and gripping onto the blond as Riku landed on his feet, much to the surprise of the spectators, who were crowding around. "That was a pathetic height, Roxas." He commented, glancing up at the tower, before noticing that Roxas was unconscious. "Roxas?" He laid him down, and then blinked. "Why was he so spooked? He's fallen farther…" Riku commented.

"His memories of those times are still clouded, poor kid."

Riku turned to see Axel standing a few metres behind him, hood down, at the front of the group.

"Hm…" He glanced at Roxas, who stirred. Riku's eyes lit up suddenly as Roxas tried sitting up. Riku offered him a hand, which the Key of Destiny accepted, before he got pulled to his feet. "Don't you ever do that again." Riku glared like a parent would a child who had nearly given them a heart attack, only a bit calmer, and more collected. Plus, he lacked that panicked look.

"Huh?" Roxas blinked. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." Riku ruffled Roxas's hair, before turning and starting to force his way through the crowd. "Come on, we need to fix the ship." Roxas glanced back at Axel, who nodded.

"I'll… see you at the lab, then?" Roxas asked the red head, who nodded.

"See you there." Axel turned and, after he put his hood over his head, started to walk away. Roxas turned and darted after Riku, who was already bombarded by spectators and news crews.

Roxas couldn't help but snort in amusement.

"Where's an Organization XIII cloak when you need it?" Riku commented to Roxas quietly.

"I'll open a Corridor of Darkness and we can blow this joint." Suggested the Nobody, "Or chop off their heads with Oblivion."

"I'd rather the first."

"Riku! Roxas!"

Both turned to see a fifteen year old, raven haired girl sitting on the Gummiship. A tattoo, much like Sleinr's, swept over her face, going from her left temple to the bottom of her right cheek bone, covering most of her face. Her eyes were sparkling silver. Her hair reached just past her shoulders, and was being rustled in the breeze.

"Rexa!" Roxas exclaimed, turning to her. She smiled in response. "You're alive!"

"Of course, XIII."

Roxas blinked in memory, or what little he had of it. He hadn't been called XIII since he left the Organization, why was Rexa calling him by it now?

"What?"

"Never mind." She jumped down from the Gummiship, then her eyes went a glowing crimson. "BACK OFF!" She yelled. Everything suddenly went quiet. "Thank you." She smiled sweetly again, but her eyes told another story. "Riku, Roxas." She addressed them. "Hayner, Penxe and Olette are waiting. They'll explain. I've got to run; Sleinr's probably blown up half a dozen Dusks by now." She sighed. "Such is the life when your cousin's obsessed with explosions, and your other cousin is trying to destroy the worlds." She then vanished as a gust of wind blew through. The interviewers and spectators all turned back to where Riku and Roxas were…

Only to find that they had slipped off while Rexa was talking.

--

"That," Riku glanced at Roxas as they exited a Corridor of Darkness into the Usual Spot, "was actually a good idea."

"I have my moments." Roxas shrugged in reply. _You okay? _

…

_Sora? _

…

_Sora! _

_What? _

_Don't do that. _

_Why not? _

_Because I said so. _

_Bonehead. _

_That's really getting old, dork. _

Roxas suddenly shook his head, causing Riku to glance at him.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Why are you suddenly concerned?" Roxas asked curiously, crossing his arms.

"I've been thinking." Riku replied, looking up. "You're Sora, and Sora is you. I've been thinking about everything we've been through; you're like a little brother to me. That's why I was so worried about you when you fell of the Station Tower. I didn't care what the after effects would be; I just reacted to save your life. When Axel's hand slipped, I just reacted to save your life, not mine. I didn't care if we'd end up meddling in the worlds, even if King Mickey forbade it."

"He also forbade Kairi leaving the Destiny Isles when we were captured, but look, no one on our side's dead." Roxas commented.

"For awhile we thought you were." Riku reminded him.

They were interrupted when Hayner ran inside, panting heavily.

"How… the hell… did you… do that?" He asked between breaths.

"Long story." Riku answered.

"Yeah, well now you've got the local news departments after your stories."

Roxas moaned.

"All of them?"

"Pretty much." He nodded. "Pence and Olette have convinced them that you left the district, so you're safe for now. But you need to get out A-SAP."

"How can we repair the Gummiship, if we're being bombarded by news crews?" Roxas blinked at his own rhyme.

"That Rexa girl, she said she left something for you guys under the couch." Hayner told them. Riku crouched down, and pulled a small box out from under the old, worn sofa. After brushing the dust off of the box, he opened it, and blinked as he pulled one of the black cloths out.

"Our black cloaks…" He commented, and then turned to Roxas.

"You're psychic, aren't you?" Roxas asked.

"Why?"

"Earlier you asked where an Organization XIII cloak was when you needed it." Riki tossed the smaller of the two cloaks to Roxas. The pants and gloves were also in the box, but they'd worry about that later. They just didn't have the boots, but that wasn't much of a problem yet.

The two of them threw the cloaks on over their current clothing, before raising their hoods and turning to Hayner.

"If no one tries to look you straight in the eyes I don't think you'll be noticed." Hayner commented, taking a hint at the question they were asking.

"That'll do." Riku nodded.

"Olette and Pence are already at your ship. I'm going to head over in a moment. They need to know what they're looking for, to fix it." Hayner told them. The two Keybladers nodded, before they turned and ran out, but not before Riku made sure that they had the box Rexa had left for them.

Running back to the station, they found Olette sitting a top the Gummiship, while Pence was down at one of the wings.

"One of the wings is trashed." Pence commented, getting to his feet. He glanced back at Roxas and Riku as they darted up to them.

"What's the damage?" Riku asked. Pence and Olette paused, before realising who it was.

"The wing's trashed, and the navigation systems aren't in any decent condition. The radio's working through. Someone tried getting a transmission through earlier.

"The King." Roxas darted inside, and started fumbling with the Gummiship's radio system. "Hello? This is Roxas. Anyone there?" He tried several different transmissions, before someone replied.

"Roxas? Where are you guys?"

Roxas smiled back at Riku, who was standing just at the entrance, triumphantly, indicating that they had, in fact, gotten in contact with Disney Castle. The person on the other end was none other than King Mickey.

"Twilight Town." Roxas replied. "And someone's ended us up in hiding, due to a stunt he pulled."

"I wouldn't have pulled it if you hadn't climbed up on the Station Tower in the first place." Objected Riku defensively.

"Whatever." Roxas rolled his eyes. "Anyway, long story short we crashed in Twilight Town. That caused enough trouble, until an incident involving gravity and heights occurred, and now we're forced to wear black Organization XIII cloaks and hide our faces, if we don't want to get bombarded by news teams." He didn't feel like rhyming again.

"Roxas! Come check this out!" Pence yelled.

"Just a sec, I've got to have a look at something. I'll let Riku talk for awhile." Roxas got up and walked over to Riku. "Telephone for you." The silver haired teen rolled his eyes as Roxas walked past him, and onto the top of the Gummiship, where Pence was sitting. "What is it?"

"What's this?" Pence held up a Gummiblock.

"That? That's a Gummiblock. The ship's made up entirely of these." Answered Roxas, taking the Gummiblock and holding it in his hand, "This is only a small one, if we want to repair the Gummiship, we'll need a lot of them. I'll have a look and give you an estimate on how many we'll need." Roxas told him, jumping down and checking over the Gummiship, looking at various areas where it might need to be repaired.

--

"Fifty?!" Riku looked at Roxas in shock. They were still transmitting over the radio, and they were sitting in the ship.

"More or less." Answered Roxas.

"How many do we have?"

"After checking the ship's supplies we have… fifteen." Riku moaned in response.

"Where are we going to come up with thirty-five Gummiblocks?" He asked. "I doubt there's someone in the Gummiblock business before Radiant Garden, and I don't even know if Cid's still in that line of work."

"We've got at least ten." The King told them over the radio.

"That's twenty-five…" Riku commented. "We still need twenty-five more."

"Guys…" Pence's voice rang from outside. "What're those?" Roxas peered out through the entrance.

"Dancers." He commented, looking at the five Dancer Nobodies standing in front of him.

"_We have a message from our liege." _

"What did you say?" Roxas slowly stepped out of the Gummiship.

"Roxas, it didn't say anything!" Riku growled at him.

"No, I'm sure it spoke." Roxas shook his head.

"_Our liege." _

"Demyx?" One of the Nobodies nodded slowly.

"_He has a gift for you." _Each Nobody tossed him two Gummiblocks. Roxas counted them up, finding that he now had ten in his hand. _"He says he can get more for you, if you wish it." _

"Tell your liege," Roxas started, "that we'll need fifteen more." The Dancers turned and ran off, flipping or pulling various dance moves as they did. "I owe you one, Dem." He turned back towards the Gummiship, but paused. He glanced over at a shining white orb, only the size of a golf ball, which seemed to dance around excitedly. It calmed him, put him at peace even. He raised his free hand so his palm was facing up, and the orb moved to float above his hand. "Isn't this cool?" He raised his palm to his eye level, and the orb moved with it. "What is it?" He breathed.

"Roxas!"

He spun around in alarm. Riku was standing on the stairs, confronted by none other than Renxen. Roxas growled, before the raven haired teen turned to face him, a glint in his eye.

"Such a sight, too bad I'll have to ruin it." Renxen raised his hand so his palm faced Roxas, and the orb started floating towards him, although it seemed to be struggling. Roxas, for some unknown reason, tried darting after it, but once it got close enough to Renxen, he bottled it and the bottle disappeared.

"Pity, isn't it. Such a waist of a pure heart." Renxen turned to Riku, who was pointing his Keyblade at him. "Your heart is too dark… but if it gets you out of my way…" He raised his hand towards Riku, palm facing him. Riku started feeling weak, and lost some of the colour in his skin. Roxas darted towards him as he dropped his Keyblade. Riku collapsed to his hands and knees.

Forming in front of the silver haired teen was a purplish orb, about the same size as the white orb from before, just a bit smaller. Roxas reacted out of instinct and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"7 Shadows of Hearts have been humming.

4 Heartless were prowling.

9 Nobodies are on a mission.

13 is the Key!"

A slight breeze blew through, before he and Riku vanished, and, much to Renxen's anger, the purple orb went with them.

--

"Where…" Roxas glanced around at his surroundings. White walls and lots of high-tech devices all stuffed into the walls of a hallway. "…Are we?" He turned to Riku, who had collapsed onto his side. "Riku!" He put a hand on his shoulder. "Riku!" He repeated. The purple orb seemed to float around, before hovering in front of where Riku's Heart was, before it shattered and Riku regained colour in his skin, before getting to his feet, as if he never lost his strength. Roxas followed him to his feet, before getting a better look around. There were doors on either side of the hallways, just as white as the walls. Behind them was a turn, which blocked the rest of the hall from view. Ahead was a dead end.

"I know this place…" He muttered, and then closed his eyes.

"_Axel! Why are we running?" _

"_Don't ask questions, Roxas!" Axel snapped at him. "If one of the assistants finds us, we're dead!" _

"_HEY! YOU THERE!" _

"_It's Alex, run!" Axel turned the other direction, and, since he was holding onto Roxas' arm, pulled him with. _

Roxas opened his eyes again. He walked up to one of the doors on the right, and jiggled the handle. "Locked." He turned around. "If Alex came from that direction…" He started walking towards the turn. "Follow me." He pulled his hood down as he walked down the hall way. Riku followed him cautiously.

They went around the turn, then two more before they came out into a room with computers, control panels and large glass tubes and cages, like a science lab.

"I see you found your way here."

They spun around to see Sleinr standing where they had only a moment before, arms crossed.

"Sleinr!." Roxas nodded.

"That's good. It seems to have saved your friend's life." Sleinr commented, gesturing to Riku. Roxas nodded. "Well, welcome to my lab, HQ of the few remaining true Emotion Hunters. Hey, Roxas… do you perhaps know why Axel kidnapped you?" Roxas bit his lip, then shook his head.

"No, he never explained it. He just woke me up and told me to follow him, and before I knew it we'd run to the Destiny Isles." Roxas replied.

"Hm…" Sleinr bit his lip. "He had very bad timing… if he had waited about a week then Sora would've been fine but…"

"Sir! We've had confirmed sightings of Runeun!" A thirteen year old raven haired boy darted around the corner. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt and baggy black shorts, and on his head was a headset. His eyes were crimson, but not glowing.

"Get Flash and CS on it!" Sleinr ordered. The kid nodded, before turning and running back around the corner.

"That was… Alex, right?" Roxas asked. Sleinr nodded.

"He may look young, but he's going on 1015. Poor kid…" Sleinr shook his head. "Nah, I won't worry you with his past."

_Sora…_

"Huh?" Roxas glanced around. That was a girl's voice… appearing to be in a trance, he walked past Sleinr, back into the hallway.

"Roxas!" Riku called after him. Roxas didn't reply. He just kept walking. Riku sighed, and followed after him.

Roxas entered one of the doors on the left, which he found unlocked. Going inside, he found a low lit room, with a figure floating in the middle of it.

_Sora… is it really you? _


	5. Chapter 5

Author's notes: This one's a bit shorter than the others (unless I manage a 300 word author's note) so... yeah. It's 1000 words longer than my collab I'm doing with my friend... which is scary. He's thinks it's fine and I say it's WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too short. Hold on... why did I start a collab with a kid who failed English? That's probably why I'm typing it and he's just telling me what's going on. I'm referring to Kingdom Fantasies 2-X, by the way. I think that was an 100 word author's note...

**Just an Emotionless Nobody**

_Yeah. _

Roxas didn't answer himself. He let his other do the talking… or rather, thinking. It seemed easy to connect minds with whoever was on the other end. It was a familiar presence, and Sora seemed at peace, so Roxas stood back and waited.

_I'm so sorry, Sora. I didn't mean… I thought… _

_Shush. Don't worry. _

Something convinced Roxas to step forwards. The lights flicked on.

Floating behind a barrier…

Was Kairi.

She wasn't moving at all, since she was pretty much unconscious, like she had been when Sleinr had taken her from Radiant Garden.

_Roxas, no hard feelings? _

He was finally being spoken to. It took bloody long, although he didn't care. He couldn't, not without emotions.

_Can Nobodies have hard feelings? _He still wasn't sure who he was talking to, but he had to say something.

_Hm. You've got a point there. _

_Glad to see you're okay, Roxas. _

_I guess… _

_Close your eyes. You'll see. _

Roxas did so. Everything around him went black, but he saw two figures engulfed in light walking towards him. He then glanced to his left side.

"Sora!" He exclaimed, turning to face him. Sora didn't answer, but rather stepped forwards as the two figures stopped. Suddenly, one bolted up to Sora and wrapped their arms around him.

"Sora... I'm so happy to see you!" She exclaimed. Roxas blinked. She was Kairi. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he glanced behind him.

"Namine…" He commented. She gave him a smile.

"Hello, Roxas."

Kairi stepped back from Sora, but he kept a hand on her shoulder.

"Sora… are you okay?" She asked as she tilted her head.

"Yeah, why?" he asked her.

"Your face is pale." She commented. Sora glanced at Roxas, who nodded.

"Yeah, it is a bit… sort of like when Renxen attacked Riku." He commented.

"What happened to Riku?" Kairi asked him in consern.

"Renxen tried taking his emotions, but we fled before he managed to finish." Roxas explained. "Riku's fine now, he had just looked pale when he had lost some of his emotions..."

"Roxas!"

Roxas spun around. Someone had tugged on his shoulder… but the only person behind him was Namine, and she shrugged, indicating that she didn't know.

"Roxas!" His shoulder jerked again.

"Open your eyes." Kairi told him.

Roxas' eyes suddenly shot open. He looked to his side, seeing Riku standing beside him.

_Don't tell anyone you've talked to us yet. _

_My lips are sealed. _

"You okay?" Riku asked him.

"Yeah, why?"

"You weren't answering, and you were just standing there with your eyes closed. I was getting kind of worried about you." He then glanced at Kairi. "I feel sorry for her."

"Hmm…" Roxas nodded.

"I'll lower the barriers so you can see her." Alex was suddenly at their side.

"Don't." Sleinr snapped. "It was hard enough raising the barriers without being found. Leave them up." Alex nodded slowly.

"Sorry, Roxas."

Roxas either didn't hear, or ignored him. He stepped forwards towards Kairi, and slowly extended his hand.

"Roxas! No!" Snapped Sleinr. He continued to ignore him. He stretched his hand through the barriers, unharmed. Sleinr watched in shock. "You can… go through the barriers?" Roxas didn't speak. He put a hand on the unconscious Kairi's shoulder.

"Stay strong, Kairi. We'll defeat Renxen." He whispered. No one replied, and he guessed that she didn't feel like talking. But he did feel a rush of trust run through him. It wasn't his; he didn't have emotions. It wasn't Sora, since he indicated his confusion to Roxas. Roxas pulled his hand away, stepping back and pulling his arm out of the barrier.

"Crickey." Sleinr shook his head.

"What usually happens when someone tries going through the barriers?" Riku asked Sleinr.

"It varies. Nobodies and Heartless usually explode... into bubbles." Sleinr blinked. "I never did understand that."

"Maybe, because I have a Heart, I can pass through the barriers unharmed." Roxas suggested.

"Quite possibly." Sleinr agreed.

"Sleinr! Renxen's found us!" Rexa slammed the door open. Her breath was in short bursts, and her speech rushed. "They're in the lab!"

"Alex! Radio all hands to the lab. We need to keep Renxen at bay for as long as we can." Sleinr ordered. Alex nodded, running out. "And Alex," the raven haired kid stopped, "just because he's your father, that doesn't mean he's still who he once was before Runielius. Remember that. Don't switch sides on us, okay?" He smiled. Alex nodded.

"He can jump off a bridge for all I care." Alex then ran off.

"How can we help?" Roxas asked. He was curious about what Sleinr had said to Alex, but he'd press the issue later.

"All hands to the lab." Sleinr smiled. "Welcome to the Emotion Hunters." He ran off and out of the room. _The... WHAT?! _Roxas didn't get a chance to ask.

"I trust we'll be fighting together, then?" Rexa asked.

"Of course." He nodded. Rexa smiled.

"Let's go send them to bloody nose and black eye diner. We'll be serving." She grinned with a slight evil hint in her eyes. One was crimson, while the other was a sparking yellow. She turned and ran out of the room.

"Her eyes could really freak one out." Roxas whispered to Riku after Rexa left. Riku nodded in response, before they darted out and towards the lab.

They found it overrun with people in dark clothing. When they had come out, Rexa gave them bright white armbands, telling them that that's how they told their members apart from Renxen's.

There weren't many people on Rexa's side. There was Sleinr, Rexa, Alex, Runie and Yoru, who Roxas and Riku were surprised to see again, Yuffie, which shocked Sora, Tifa, another surprise, and a couple other people. Renxen's numbers were greater than their's. Roxas swore he kept spotting an Organization XIII member on Renxen's side.

"Roxas! Duck!"

Roxas rolled to the side. A fireball shot over his head and hit one of Renxen's team mates square in the chest, and they fell to the ground. Roxas shot to his feet, and saw Axel standing there, hood down. He had a bright white band around his neck.

"Axel!" Roxas exclaimed.

"Demyx is further in, just in case someone gets past us, to protect Kairi. He's also got several Dancer Nobodies with him." Axel assured him. Apparently he'd come to trust Demyx's abilities. Roxas guessed he was forced to, due to his fear of water.

Roxas glanced around. In his excitement to see Axel, he had been separated from Riku. He jumped when Way to the Dawn missed his head by millimetres, and lodged into the wall behind him. Roxas glanced around. Riku was nowhere to be found.

"Riku!" He called. "Riikuu!"

"He's probably lost in the fight." Axel told him. "He'll call his Keyblade back." Roxas nodded. "Now, are we going to stand here or fight?" He grinned cockily, which Roxas returned, before they darted into the fight side-by-side, Roxas calling Oblivion and Oathkeeper while Axel summoned his Chakrams in a burst of flame.

Roxas leaped into the air, and several of Renxen's group leaped up to attack him. Roxas smiled, closing his eyes.

_He leaped into the air, Neoshadows jumping around him. Rain was pouring down on them, soaking his black cloak. A few Heartless had already been in the air when he jumped, and these were a few feet above him. He spun 180, then 180 in the other way, slicing Heartless as he did… _

Roxas landed on the ground, untouched. Axel blinked at him.

"With your eyes closed?" Asked the red head.

"Yeah." Roxas nodded with a cocky grin.

"Impressive." A red chakram had sliced through the person behind Axel, before returning to his hand. "Can you do better?"

"Yeah." Roxas scoffed.

"Prove it."

The two darted forwards, slicing Renxen's group as they went, but their numbers were too few, they were being pushed back into the hallways against Renxen's small army. Roxas glanced around in alarm.

"Where's Riku?" He called.

"Fighting Renxen." Replied Sleinr from a little ways away, Roxas nodded. Riku should be fine. He just wished that there was a way to get there…

Roxas darted forwards. He owed Riku after the incident in Twilight Town. Big time.

Half way through Renxen's gang, a pillar of ice shot up from above him, but he wasn't prepared for it. It hit him in the chin, sending him flying into the air. The Key of Destiny landed on the ground with a loud, resounding 'thunk'.

He didn't move. Everything around him was a blur, and seemed to be moving in slow motion. His ears were ringing, and he couldn't make out any sound.

He wasn't sure how long he laid there for, but he finally managed to sit up. The only people he saw were Riku and Renxen, weapons locked.

Things weren't going well for Riku. He was on his knees and bending backwards, trying to keep Way to the Dawn over his head, one hand on either end of the Keyblade. Roxas started to get to his feet, ending up with his cloak ripped by a Keyblade slicing it.

He looked at the wall in alarm. Renxen had spun around, knocking Way to the Dawn out of Riku's hands suddenly. Riku had collapsed in a very uncomfortable position, lying half backwards half on his side, while still kneeling. Roxas sprinted towards him, collapsing at Riku's side onto his hands and knees.

"R…Roxas… is that… you…?" Riku breathed.

"I'm right here." Roxas nodded. Riku smiled weakly.

"Go… you're on… your own… now."

"Riku! Riku don't die on me!" Roxas called. Riku smiled again, his eyes sparkling weakly. The silver haired teenager weakly pointed at where Roxas' Heart would be with a small, amused smile.

"What would you care? Keep Sora safe, and save Kairi." Riku closed his eyes and led his hand fall.

"RIIIIIIKUUUUUUU!" Roxas cried. He got to his feet and glared at Renxen, who was leaning on his sword in boredom. Without warning, Roxas summoned Oblivion and Oathkeeper back to him, darting forwards and slashing at Renxen.

After that, he couldn't remember. His Keyblades flashed, simply extensions of his arms, while trying to get past the blur of silver and blue that was Renxen's sword. He remembered Renxen slicing at him from the side, and he blocked that easily…

But he blacked out after that.

"_Poor kid." The voice was sympathetic, and strangely familiar. It sounded like a young man in his upper-teens._

"_What do you mean?" A pang of confusion was heard as another person spoke. It was a boy, in his low-teens, that much was certain._

"_He thinks his friend's dead, and he no longer has a Heart. He's back to being just an emotionless Nobody, just like in Organization XIII." That was a girl speaking. _

"_He's truly on his own now. Not even his somebody will be there to comfort him…"A fourth voice rang out, another teenaged young man. _

"_Elementals, keep an eye on him as he goes to defeat Renxen. He'll need all the help he can get. But don't let him know you're there. Ever." That was the girl again. _

_"You got it." The fourth voice, and another teenager, around the same age, spoke in unison. _


	6. Chapter 6

Author's notes: Sorry I've been gone. I haveno excuse that doesn't involve school, roleplaying, storytelling and my one friend. It's sad. I have one school friend. The rest are either over the internet, or in the USA...

**Just an Emotionless Nobody**

Roxas moaned, weakly cracking his eyes open. He saw a familiar red-head leaning over him. His right eye had a bandage over it, and he could feel a scab along his face. He couldn't figure out what it was from, though. He couldn't open his right eye, and he guessed that it was because of the bandage.

"Axel…?" The blond managed to speak. "What… happened?" He then remembered the fight with Renxen. "Riku!" Roxas shot upright. "Riku…" He slowly slumped back down, so he was lying down again. Under himwas a somewhat comfortable bed, with black covers. Axel gave him a slight smile from where he was sitting on the side of the bed. The white band was still on his neck, and he had a small, black burn on the left side of his forehead.

"Riku's fine, Roxas."

Roxas' visible eye lit up.

"Except that… Renxen stole his emotions. He wanted to get Riku out of the way so he could kill you."

Roxas sighed, looking at the black wall on the other side of the small room. _Sora? _He waited for a few seconds, but no one replied. _Sora! _No response.

"Why won't Sora answer me?" Roxas whispered. Axel seemed to hear him, and looked down. Roxas took a hint. "Renxen got him, too?"

"Yeah."

Roxas sighed, then sat up, sitting criss-crossed. Silence lingered for a little while, before Roxas spoke up.

"I'm leaving soon."

Axel blinked at him in surprise.

"I'm going to hunt down Renxen, and free the emotions of anyone he's captured."

Axel smiled cockily. "You do that, and come back alive! Got it memorized?" He poked Roxas on the chest, and the blond got a slightly evil grin on his face.

"Only if you do." He got to his feet, and walked over to the door. Axel followed him.

They came out into the hallway. Roxas had been in the room he had tried getting into when he and Riku first arrived here. A very hyper and excited Demyx ran up to them.

"Roxy! You're awake!" Demyx exclaimed. "How's your eye?"

"Huh?" Roxas withdrew away from Demyx, and then looked at Axel. "What happened to my eye?" The fire element sighed.

"Let's… find you a mirror." Axel turned and then he started to walk down the hall. "Wait here." He then walked around the corner and out of sight.

Roxas leaned against the wall, arms crossed while he looked at the ground. Soon Axel returned with a small mirror in hand. He told Roxas to hold the mirror in front of him, and face away from Axel. The red-head slowly removed the bandage from Roxas' eye.

Roxas dropped the mirror, which shattered on the ground. Demyx withdrew into the corner, wishing that he wasn't there. Number XIII was frozen in place.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY EYE?!" Roxas turned and lashed out at Axel suddenly.

"Remember that ice pillar that hit you?" Axel asked calmly, taking a couple steps back from Roxas.

"What of it?" Roxas glared with his one good eye.

"You didn't notice it when it happened due to your adrenalin rush, but when it hit you… it slashed your eye and… rendered it useless. That's where you got that gash on your face." Axel seemed hesitant to explain it. Roxas' hand slowly reached to his right eye. What he had seen haunted him.

His eye had pretty much been sliced. It wasn't pretty, to put it simply. I'll spare you the details. You can pretty much use your imagination. His scab was black - not red, black. Roxas turned and headed into the room where he had first seen Kairi suddenly and without a word.

She hadn't moved, and Riku wasn't there. Roxas guessed that he'd been put somewhere else.

_Kairi? Namine? _

_Yes, Roxas? _

Roxas closed his eyes, well, his one good eye and somewhat closed his other eye. Everything went black, and he found himself looking at Kairi and Namine.

"_Where's Sora?" Kairi asked. _

"_Renxen's got 'im." Roxas replied. He was looking at the ground. _

"_Oh…" Kairi looked down. _

"_Roxas, are you okay?" Namine asked concernedly. Roxas shook his head. "What happened?" Roxas looked at her, he didn't want to tell them, but he had to. His eyes were open, as he looked at then through his left eye. Namine and Kairi both drew back in shock. "Roxas! What happened to your eye?!" _

"_Riku was fighting Renxen alone, and I darted forwards through the other side's fighters. Out of nowhere, an ice spike shot up out of the ground and well," Roxas motioned to his face, "this is what I earned from it." _

"_What happened to Riku?" Kairi asked. _

"_In the end I got to him, but Renxen's got his emotions, too. I was too slow… if I was just a little faster…" Roxas' voice trailed off. "I thought he was dead until I woke up to Axel hovering over me and he told me that Riku was fine, besides that small fact." _

"_When'd you wake up?" Namine asked. _

"_About five minutes ago." _

"_When was the fight?" Kairi asked. _

"_I…" Roxas paused. He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious for… "I don't know. It could've been hours, days or even a week." His shoulder jerked suddenly. "I'll see you later." He waved, and then opened his eyes. _

Axel was behind him, his hand on Roxas' shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked. Roxas nodded.

"Yeah, fine."

"Let's go. We need to tell Sleinr that you're awake." Axel told him. "Oh, here," he put the bandage back over Roxas' eye. "There, that way you don't have to worry about it."

"Thanks." Roxas smiled. Too bad his eye wouldn't heal. If it would, then he'd only have to worry about it for a little while.

Axel led him out of that room, and down the hall towards the lab. He stopped at the very last door, where Demyx was standing.

"Can we go in?" Axel asked the Melodious Nocturne, who nodded.

"Yeah. Go right on ahead."

Axel opened the door, and walked inside, Roxas close behind. Demyx entered behind Roxas, and they closed the door.

In the room was a round table, with Rexa, Sleinr, Runie and Yoru sitting at it. They had all gone silent when Axel, Roxas and Demyx entered.

"Roxas! You're awake!" Sleinr exclaimed. He seemed both surprised and relieved at that news.

"I guess…"

"Have you seen your eye?" Rexa asked in concern. Roxas nodded slowly. "Sorry, Roxas. We did all we could to fix it but… it only made it worse."

"At least you tried." Roxas whispered. "When can I leave to find Renxen?" He asked suddenly.

"As soon as you want." Sleinr replied.

"I leave immediately, then." Roxas turned and left the room.

"Roxas!" Several people shouted at him as he slammed the door behind him. The Nobody ignored them and he continued towards the lab.

"I'm going to go save them. Sora, Riku, Kairi, all of them." He whispered in response.

Roxas wandered through the endless rows and desks of vials, test tubes and specimen cages – a few which had Heartless in their clear cells.

"Not even Vexen would be this scientifically obsessed." Roxas chuckled. "Sleinr must be a lot older than he looks, to be this… nerdy?" He couldn't seem to find the correct wording, but that'd have to do.

"Roxas Roxas Roxas Roxas Roxas!" Axel shot past him, sliding to a stop as he slammed into the wall. The fire element regained his footing and turned back to the blond. "What's up with you?" Roxas scoffed.

"What do you think?"

"You can't be angry."

"Maybe not, but I plan on finishing this mission, if nothing else." He walked past Axel, giving him the cold shoulder. "I don't plan on leaving Sora, Riku, Kairi and Namine high and dry." Axel just stood there, watching as his buddy walked deeper into the lab.

"I wonder how far the lab goes…" Axel pondered out loud.

"Who cares?!" Roxas yelled back at him, a heck of a lot deeper into the lab. The fire-obsessed Nobody blinked.

"Demyx! Go find Roxas!"

"DANCE WATER, DANCE!"

Axel got slammed by a large water bomb. His hair stuck to his head and face, making him look like Riku with red hair, and triangles under his eyes. He growled, the water evaporating off of his over-heating body.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, DEMYX!"

--

Roxas glanced behind him, hearing shattering glass ringing out over the former silence, now broken by a fight, probably between Axel and Demyx. At one point he heard a very peeved off Demyx.

"YOU BROKE MY SITAR YOU-"

Roxas plugged his ears; if Demyx' sitar was broken, he didn't want to hear the long line of curses. He removed his fingers from his ears for a second, finding silence for only a split second, before Axel was suddenly thrown into one of the glass specimen cages, which bent as he slammed into it.

"I give you no sympathy." Roxas stated plainly, and continued on. "Riku, Kairi, Sora, hang on. I'll find you." He promised.

"Gee, thanks, Roxas." Axel muttered, stumbling to his feet. "Well… you can't show sympathy, I guess."

--

Roxas wasn't sure how long he walked for, but he ended up finding a set of double doors, which he opened. He took a step…

But there was nothing under his foot.

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!" He yelled as he fell forwards, turning and grabbing onto the edge of the floor. Below him was a black hole looking… thing, surrounded by black nothingness. "Oh Kingdom Hearts…" He whimpered. "DEMYX! AXEL! SLEINR! SOMEONE! HELP!" He yelled. _Oh Kingdom Hearts… Kingdom Hearts no… _He slowly started slipping... and his grip failed him. He yelled out as he started falling.

"I've gotcha!"

Roxas looked up to see whoever rescued him. He was surprised that it was in fact, Axel. He was tempted to ask how, but he stopped himself. Axel seemed to know the question.

"Heated glass doesn't shatter." He explained. Roxaslet out a nervous laugh, glancing at the black hole below. "Now, hang on." Axel gripped onto his wrist with one hand, his sleeve with the other. Roxas grasped Axel's arm with his other hand, for fear of falling. If he fell… it was all over for him, Riku, Sora, Kairi, Namine and anyone else. An unworldly chill ran up his spine. Slowly, it started with his feet, but then moved up his leg, he started becoming paralysed. Axel was trying to pull him up when Roxas suddenly let go of his arm. Roxas's hand dropped limply to his side, and the fire element realised exactly how much danger his friend was in. He managed to drag Roxas' now limp body up by grabbing onto his forearms and dragging him up. Axel picked him up, getting to his feet and closing the doors.

Roxas shuddered, his teeth clattering together, the only sound in the silence.

"What were you thinking, kid?" Axel whispered as he started walking back through the lab. Roxas gripped onto the fire element's cloak. "Watch where you step next time, Roxas," he added. Axel's skin started heating in an attempt to warm Roxas' frozen muscles and nerves. The lab seemed a lot shorter going back, and soon Axel found himself in the hallway. He walked into the room Roxas had slept in, and laid the Key of Destiny down on the bed and covered him.

"I was worried something like this would happen."

Axel turned to see Sleinr leaning against the door frame.

"We can't hesitate any longer, Axel. Demyx has already been sent off ahead. If Roxas keeps making idiotic moves like that, we're doomed."

"Great."

"Your mission is simple," Sleinr stated, "take Vexen out."

* * *

Author's notes: Meh. I didn't like the random bit Loud One put in... The part from where Axel broke Demyx's Sitar to where Roxas fell. I took advantage of it though; I needed some way to get Roxas to pass out and Axel to talk to Sleinr.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's notes: So sorry! I've had really bad writer's block and then school got really hectic (end of year stuff and all) yeah… Sorry… Oh, and I got started on Fullmetal Alchemist, thanks to one of my roleplaying buddies. OH! This chapter does start in Radiant Garden, even though the last one ended in Sleinr's lab, so don't think you missed anything.

**Just an Emotionless Nobody**

Roxas sighed. This was going to be difficult. Last he came here Riku was with him… and they borrowed a Gummiship. Said Gummiship was now in Twilight Town in pieces. He ran a hand through his hair, hesitating when he felt his palm rub against the eye patch, the constant reminder of what had happened. Roxas glanced around Radiant Garden, searching for someone from the Reconstruction Committee.

"Well, look who decided to drop by!"

He spun around to see none other than the ninja standing behind him. Yuffie glanced at his eye patch curiously, but didn't ask about it.

"Anyway, welcome back, Roxas. Where's Riku?"

"I'll explain later." Roxas replied. "Leon and the others around?" He asked her. Yuffie nodded.

"Yep. Just follow me!" She bounded off towards Merlin's house. "Come on!" She called back. Roxas sighed. Someone must've given her sugar. He knew where she was heading, but she insisted on leading him. She dragged him into Merlin's house and chimed out. "Look-it who I found in town!"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Sora's Nobody." Leon glanced up. He'd been leaning against the wall, watching whatever the heck Cid had been working on via the computer. Cid had turned around.

"Decided to drop in, 'ey?" Cid waved. Roxas nodded.

"Yeah, figured that I had to start my search somewhere." Roxas shrugged.

"Search for what?" Yuffie questioned.

"Renxen's on the loose still. He's gotten Sora and Riku now, too. Just like he got Kairi."

Everything seemed to get suddenly quiet. Leon, Yuffie and Cid all glanced at each other, all thinking the same thing. How could Renxen get Sora, if he was living inside Roxas, in the first place? Plus, Sora would've put up a bit of a fight. Suddenly, the door opened and Merlin bumped into Roxas, causing him to stumble forwards.

"Oh, sorry dear boy. I didn't see you there!" Merlin apologized, picking up the books he dropped. Roxas helped him collect the books and passed them back to Merlin.

"It's fine." He assured the wizard.

"My word, boy!" Merlin exclaimed, looking at Roxas's face. "What happened to you?" Roxas turned away.

"All I remember is a large spike of ice shooting up from the ground. When I got back up, it was gone." He replied. "My eye was sliced, too." He added. "Don't ask to see it. It's best you didn't." He glanced at Yuffie, who drew back. Roxas sighed. "Let me know if you see anything, m'kay?"

"There've been attacks all around town at night." Leon told Roxas. "We've been hoping you would show up, to see if you'd know more about it."

"I told you!" Yuffie exclaimed. "They scream 'vampire'!"

"Vampires aren't real, Yuffie."

The ninja pouted, and Roxas let out a laugh at her.

"I'll hang around tonight - see if I can't clear this up a bit." Roxas told Leon, who nodded.

"Thanks, Roxas. I'd offer you a place to stay for tonight, but my house is full." Leon told him.

"He can stay with me!" Yuffie exclaimed. "I've got a guest room."

"Joy." Roxas muttered. Leon chuckled.

"Don't worry. It doesn't take long for the sugar to wear off." He assured Roxas, who sighed. He was never going to live this down, once Sora found out.

Roxas sighed. No matter how hard he tried, he could not sleep. He looked at the clock on the side table again. _1:44AM. _He sighed. Something was keeping him awake. It was like his time in the Organization… he could sense things without hearts… but he'd always slept fine. Because they were like him, maybe? He looked out the window at the star-dotted sky. Something without a heart was out there. And it wasn't a Nobody. That much he knew. He sat up, and looked around the dark room. Surely Yuffie stashed some way to keep guests entertained in here. Her apartment wasn't that big, so she had to have _something _in there.

Roxas got to his feet, and walked over to the window. He saw two, piercing red eyes look in his direction, before they vanished into the shadows. Roxas looked at where the eyes had been, then where they had vanished to.

"What the hell was that?" He muttered. Something wasn't right. Every alarm in his head was going off. Suddenly, all the feelings went away, and he started to feel really tired. His eyes closed, and he collapsed where he stood, and went out like a light.

"Roxas! GET UP!"

Roxas moaned, rolling over. What was he doing on the floor? He pushed himself up onto his feet. Someone was banging on the door, and he had a good idea who.

"Roxas, I said GET UP."

"Yeah, yeah, Yuffie. I'm awake. I don't need a headache in edition to a sliced eye." He replied. Suddenly the banging stopped, and Roxas walked over to the door and pulled it open, looking Yuffie in the eyes. "What is it?"

"There was another attack last night. Leon wants you to check it out." She told him. Roxas nodded.

"Let's go, then."

Yuffie led him to a small house near the small apartment complex she lived in. It had been roped off for investigation, but, apparently, the Reconstruction Committee was the police force. Leon and Cloud were inside, standing over the blood-covered body of a woman in her early twenties. Her short, red hair was untouched by the blood, and her green eyes were still wide open. Roxas shuddered.

"Now I know what it's like to be watched by a dead person." He muttered.

"That's not all, Roxas." Cloud pointed to something on the wall, written in blood.

**Emotions shall be destroyed in the Firelight. **

"Any clue what it might mean?" Leon asked Roxas, who shook his head.

"No. It seems like a riddle, though. Emotions, well, Sora, Riku and Kairi's emotions were all taken from their hearts… it's saying that they'll be destroyed, but I don't know what it means by 'firelight'." Roxas replied. "It's from Renxen."

"How do you know?" Cloud glanced at him. Roxas pointed at the signature.

_Emotion Hunter R.X.N_

"The Emotion Hunters are a group of Nobodies, but they're split down the middle." Roxas explained. "There's Renxen's group, and Rexa's. The two are cousins, but with two completely different views. R.X.N, well, fill in the missing letters." He looked back to the body of the young woman, and crouched beside her. "What's her name, anyway?"

"Leera. Her brother, Leran, was killed a while back in an attack just like this. They've got a younger cousin living with them named Rachael. She survived the attack but… well…" Cloud shrugged. "Seems Yuffie was right after all."

"She was turned into a vampire…" Roxas muttered. Was that was what he had seen last night. The red eyes of a vampire? Did Renxen have vampires under his control, too? "It seems he still has more tricks up his sleeves to show us." Leon nodded in agreement. Roxas stood again. "Renxen's a torture expert. I know that first hand. His prisoners, well… once I bring Sora, Riku and Kairi back you can ask them. I'm going to have to stay another night, I guess. I want to talk to the vampire girl." Geez. He was starting to feel like a cop now. Well, every piece of information helped. "I'll leave you to it." He turned and left the house.

Yuffie darted over to him. "Well? What did you find?"

"You know of that Rachael girl?" Roxas asked. The supposed 'Grand Master' ninja nodded. "She's just proved your conclusion. Vampires have been striking Radiant Garden, and they're under the command of Renxen." Yuffie muttered an 'I told you so' to Cid, who was near by. He tossed her some munny, before heading off.

"I get the feeling this is going to be a long day." Roxas muttered.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's notes: Anyone play Rifts?

**Just an Emotionless Nobody**

"Yuffie, I said **leave me alone**." Roxas hissed.

"The girl said 'bring Roxas or die' so…" Yuffie paused, giving Roxas a moment to think, using the guilt tactic. Roxas picked up on it and glanced at her.

"Nobody, Yuffie. No emotions. The only emotions I have ever had were ones I borrowed from Sora, but, luckily for you, I don't think he would appreciate me getting you killed. What'd the girl look like?"

"Dark hair, just past the shoulders, creepy eyes that changed colors, pale skin, oh, and she had some sort of tattoo on her face."

"Rexa. What's she doing here?" Roxas pondered. Yuffie shrugged. "Lead the way, then." He sighed, guessing that he'd get answers if he actually talked to Rexa, not Yuffie.

The ninja led him from Tron's computer, where he had been looking up _anything _Ansem the Wise had on Vampires, unsuccessfully, through the town and into the back alleyways. Eventually he spotted the raven-haired teenaged girl standing at the end of the alley. She smiled as her eyes turned from yellow to a light blue. From impatient to excited.

"Uh-oh, Rex, what've you got planned?"

"Oh, nothing much. Thanks." Rexa nodded to Yuffie, who left quickly.

"What'd you do to her?" Roxas questioned.

"Set Scout on her."

"_Who_?"

"Scout." Rexa snapped her fingers, and _something _jumped off the rooftop above them. It landed between Roxas and Rexa, facing the first of the two.

What Roxas first noticed was that it was nearly six foot tall. It was also covered in fur, and had a dog-like head.

Roxas did a double take.

It was a humanoid, bipedal _dog_. An American Water Spaniel, to be exact.

It looked like it had stepped out of the military, wearing light body armor. On its hands were three claw weapons, stretching past his fingers. He could also see an unfamiliar type of rifle strapped to his back. Roxas then eyed the weapons and items on the mutant canine's utility belt. A canteen, E-clips, a survival knife, some sort of binoculars, a pocket laser distancer (Roxas had to read the words on the side to get that), a portable language translator (he had to read that one, too), a flashlight, a cigarette lighter and a weird type of pistol. The dog also had a backpack.

The guns worried Roxas; if he couldn't recognise them – having lived with Xigbar – that could be worrisome.

"Scout, this is Roxas. Roxas, Scout." Rexa introduced the two.

"Nice to… meet you?" Roxas looked up at Scout's face, frowning. _Why is everyone so tall? _Scout nodded.

"Scout doesn't like magic-users." Rexa told him. "He's a Psi-hound, more commonly known as a Dog Boy. We came across him in another world awhile back, badly injured. Sleinr brought him back up to health via natural means, not magical. When we got your message about Vampires, we contacted Scout right away. He can sense magic, psychic and supernatural energies. Zexion's sensing abilities times a hundred." She explained. Roxas nodded, visibly impressed.

"I'll be glad to help you hunt the Vampires and any other supernatural monsters you encounter, but that is the extent of my help." Scout told Roxas. "Despite being away from my masters for this long, I am still loyal to them."

"That's fine."

"Go get some rest, Roxas." Rexa told him. "We'll wake you when its time to hunt. Oh!" She glanced at Scout, who started to dig through his backpack. Finally, he pulled out a large water gun and tossed it to Roxas. It was caught with ease.

"That's your weapon."

Roxas looked at the water gun at his hands, then at Scout like he was crazy.

* * *

_Rat tat… rat tat… THUNK THUNK THUNK_

Roxas shot upright, looking over at the window. He exhaled sharply and walked over, opening the window.

"Morning, sir."

Roxas glared at Scout, who was hanging upside down. He was just wearing his utility belt and the objects attached to it. The backpack was gone, and in place of his rifle was a water gun. The Dog Boy had saluted Roxas, but slowly returned his arms to their crossed position when Roxas glared.

The Nobody grabbed the water gun, which he had filled before going to bed, and then walked back over to the window. Scout had dropped to the ground already, so Roxas jumped out. He could sense that the vampires had awakened, just didn't know where they were.

"Lead the way." Roxas waved. Scout was unmoved.

"Do you know _anything _about Vampires?"

"They drink blood, can't go in the sun and can turn into bats?" Roxas replied with a shrug.

"They are weak to running water, holy symbols, and the lot. To kill them you must stab a steak through their heart, break them apart and burn the pieces in different fires. They can also turn into a heavy mist, and wolves. There are three kinds of Vampires. Master Vampires, Common Vampires (a/n: not sure if that's what they are in Rifts but I don't have the book here at the moment to check) and Wild Vampires." Scout paused. "However, these Vampires seem to have forsaken their clan hierarchy. This lesson on Vampires: over." Scout finished, before turning and beginning to wander through the streets seemingly blindly.

Despite the blind-like walking, they came across many vampires, all which they sprayed with their water guns and stabbed wooden stakes (which Scout had split between the two of them) through their hearts. Axel, Sleinr, Rexa and Yoru all came to 'clean-up' the mess.

Scout stopped suddenly. A deep fog had set in. He pulled out his flashlight and pointed it around, but it didn't help much. "We've been trapped." He glanced to where Roxas had been, seeing nothing there.

Roxas had wandered back in the direction they had come, but the mist continued. He heard something behind him, only having time to turn around before something bit into his neck. He yelled out. The mist retreated and he looked down at the Vampire trying to suck blood out of his neck.

"No matter how hard you suck you won't get any blood." He commented, aware of a group behind him. He could also see Scout watching from a distance away. The Vampire froze suddenly, a wooden stake through its heart. It went limp, and Roxas fell with it. The creature of the night was still biting into his neck. Scout, Axel, Rexa, Sleinr and Yoru all ran over to him.

"Nice job." Scout complimented.

"Yeah, compliment me _after _the fangs are out of my neck." Roxas replied, sounding and looking to be in pain. Axel went to pull the Vampire away, but Sleinr stopped him.

"Do you _want _to rip half his neck off?"

Axel backed off. "Well, hurry, then."

Sleinr crouched down beside Roxas, slowly and carefully opening the Vampire's mouth further and slowly pulled the fangs from Roxas's neck. The Keyblade-wielding Nobody whimpered in pain. Axel kneeled down beside him and put a hand on the side of his head. Sleinr glanced over, before tossing the Vampire over to the side. Roxas exhaled, sitting up and rubbing his neck. Sleinr examined the two fang-sized black holes of nothingness in the side of Roxas's neck.

"It'll be fine." He assured Roxas, who nodded.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Axel pulled Roxas to his feet, before grabbing the Vampire by the upper arm. "Well, I'll see you later, yo!" He called before leaving through a portal. Rexa, Yoru and Sleinr were quick to follow.

"Well, all and all, I'd say we did pretty good." Roxas commented. "Minimal injuries… good thing I'm a Nobody." He added, running his fingers over the holes in his neck, then over the eye patch. "How many more times will I be scarred before Renxen is gone for good?" He muttered, sighing.

* * *

"Roxas, get up!"

Roxas woke with a start. Well, a stop, actually. He landed on the floor, Yuffie standing over him.

"Yuffie, I'm tired…"

"Yeah, Leon wants to talk to you about that."

"Five more minutes…"

"NOW." Yuffie grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room.

She continued to drag him until they got to Merlin's, where she plopped him on the ground. Roxas cracked up laughing at the sight. "I though you said you were only helping with the Vampire hunt."

Leon, Cid, Merlin, Aerith, Cloud and Tifa were all tied up in the corner, Scout standing over them with his arms crossed. Scout shrugged before leaving. Yuffie had already began to cut everyone loose.

Roxas wished she had gone slower. As soon as they were loose Leon was going off at him.

"Are you _mad_? You are the only one who will be able to save Sora and his friends, and you are risking your life hunting Vampires." Leon pressed his fingers against the holes in the side of Roxas' neck, causing him to yell in pain. Leon suddenly froze.

"Remove your fingers from his neck."

Leon did so slowly.

"Now step backwards. I will move with you."

Leon stepped back, and Axel removed the chakram from the back of his neck.

"You okay, Rox?"

"My neck hurts." Roxas replied. Axel laughed.

"No kidding. Let's go, Rexa took something off of one of the Vampires that you should see."

Roxas nodded.

"_Reno_?"

Everyone looked at Cloud, Cid, Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie, who had all spoken at the same time.

"Axel, actually. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" Axel tapped his temple for emphasis. Cloud's eye twitched, either in annoyance or suspicion, Roxas couldn't tell. "No, Roxas, seriously, _let's go _before I get my ass dragged down to Tseng's office for going AWOL and running away."

"Aha! It _is_ Shinra's red-headed turkey!" Cid proclaimed.

"Where have you been, Reno?" Tifa questioned.

"Roxas, let's go, _now_."

"I still haven't talked to the Rachael girl!" Roxas exclaimed.

"Rexa already transported her to the lab now _let's go_." Axel grabbed Roxas's arm and dragged him through a portal before anyone could stop him. They came back out in Sleinr's lab. Roxas pulled away.

"Now it's my turn. _What the hell, Axel_?"


End file.
